Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Sunday pushed back against comments from former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who urged Americans to rely on their Second Amendment rights to protect themselves from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
During CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper played a clip of Fanone speaking on The Lincoln Square’s “Protect and Serve” podcast. In the segment, Fanone appeared to argue that Americans should be prepared to use firearms to defend themselves against ICE in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting.
“It’s time for the American people to organize and to utilize their Second Amendment right to protect themselves from what has clearly become an unaccountable and lawless agency that’s killing Americans,” Fanone told host Maya May.
Fanone also dismissed calls from law enforcement urging peaceful protest, using profanity to underscore his point.
After the clip aired, Tapper asked Pritzker for his response.
“Violence is inappropriate in all of these situations,” Pritzker said. He added that he has encouraged protesters to remain peaceful and avoid giving the administration “any excuse” to deploy the National Guard.
Pritzker said Illinois has prevailed in legal fights aimed at blocking National Guard troops from being sent into the state. He argued that maintaining calm conditions has helped.
“We’ve won in our cases, but it’s in part because we haven’t created any situations in which an insurrection or rebellion looks like it’s taking place,” he said. “Our protesters are doing the right thing, and we shouldn’t have any talk of people bringing guns and matching force by civilians with law enforcement.”
Pritzker went on to call for federal law enforcement to follow established procedures.
“What we need is for law enforcement at the federal level to back off, do their job, follow the protocols, do the right thing,” he said.
In the first hour of the program’s expanded special edition, Bryan Lanza — a former senior advisor to the Trump 2024 campaign — also weighed in on Fanone’s remarks, describing them as an escalation and saying it should stop.
Tapper noted that Fanone is no longer affiliated with CNN. Lanza called the comments “despicable,” arguing that Fanone was effectively urging a violent confrontation between citizens and law enforcement.
Fanone has previously criticized Tapper and CNN. In a November interview with Tommy Christopher on Substack, Fanone took aim at Tapper over his book “Original Sin,” which focuses on former President Joe Biden. Fanone also said he objected to CNN hosting a town hall with then-candidate Donald Trump in 2024.
